Dogs help authorities sniff out child porn

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas – Most K-9s can sniff out drugs or explosive devices, but there is a new dog on the block. These new K-9s have the unique capability of finding flash drives or portable storage devices often used to hide child pornography.

"In every image of child pornography that is created, a child is abused," says Phil Grant, first assistant Montgomery County district attorney.

And that is what the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office is trying to stop. The agency has applied for a grant with Crime Stoppers that will help purchase and train one of these K-9s.

A black Labrador named Bear played a key role in the arrest of former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle on child-porn charges. The 2-year-old rescue dog nosed out a thumb drive that humans had failed to find during a search of Fogle's Indiana home in July.

"We immediately reached out to the company that provided that dog to that group and expressed interest in bringing one to the Houston regional area, specifically Montgomery Co. and they were very excited about it and we started the process right away," Grant said.

But you are probably wondering how the dog does it?

"The type of glue that they use to put these hard drives together, ... to connect the electronics within the hard drives, ... is very specific and that is what they are trained to sniff out, and that is why they are so good because they are limited to that specific type of detection," Grant said.

The dog will be handled by the Precinct 3 Constable's Office, but it will also help the DA's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

The dog will cost about $12,000, which includes training for the dog and the officer. It takes another $3,000 to $5,000 a year to keep the dog on the job. But even if the grant is denied or doesn't cover all the costs, the DA's office is planning on covering the rest.